Ceud mƬle fĆ ilte…everyone. If I’m not mistaken and please correct me if I’m wrong, I believe that means a hundred thousand welcomes. Before I get to our featured post, I just want to thank everyone for all the wonderful birthday wishes. I had a great day and Mum agreed with me that the celebration should continue through the end of the month. We both feel like celebrating a birthday shouldn’t be limited to just one day. Still wondering why we didn’t start at the beginning of the month, but glad for the 11 days of additional merrymaking and treats.
Wilson: Why, you ask, did I open with a Scottish expression? Well this last weekend, the sheepdog rescue participated at a local Celtic Festival and today’s pics are all from that festival. It was a hot day in Elizabeth, Colorado (approximately 60 miles southeast from our house) but Mum was up for helping out with other volunteers for our first Celtic Festival participation and what a fun one it was. But as we typically do, we are joining those pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang for their weekly blog hop.
Wilson: While I didn’t attend in person, my breed heritage was with everyone in spirit. We had a couple of Old English Sheepdog ambassadors who attracted a steady stream of visitors who stopped by our tent.
The Mum: It was a fun event and while it was hot, we had a nice tented area providing shade which made it seem cooler. When I arrived for my shift, I was greeted by a bag pipe and drum parade. It was such fun to hear and watch them perform. My latent Scottish DNA smiled at their precision and enthusiasm. Young and old all looked like they were having a great time displaying clan banners and marching to the pipes.
Wilson: Bet you’d never seen so many kilts, have you Mum?
The Mum: Nope, sure hadn’t but everyone seemed to enjoy it and everyone was very friendly. One visitor told me this Celtic Festival has been going on for the past 20 years! I could only wonder how I’d missed it? I knew about the big one in Estes Park that will happen in September but had never heard about this one.
Wilson: Are you planning on attending that one since the rescue has signed up to participate?
The Mum: Not sure yet. It’s a bit of a drive and I’m not sure I want you to be left alone all day. We’ll see.
Wilson: I know you spent some time checking out some of the 4-legged attendees while you were there. Just look at this array of Scottish Highland cows.
The Mum:Ā Those cows were huge and the owner told me their meat is renowned for being exceptionally lean (around 90%), quite tender, and very flavorful, often boasting lower fat and cholesterol levelsāand higher proteināthan many conventional commercial beef breeds. They are a hearty breed as well.
Wilson: What’s with these creatures?
The Mum: You know me…I just love taking photos of critters. It was great fun seeing all these guys at the festival. It was such fun hearing the Llamas making their humming sounds–they’re so cute. I even saw a Scottish Deerhound but that fellow never did get up from his nap and I checked on him a few times. I think he was just a bit overwhelmed since his tent as on the end where all the rescues were located and right next to some noisy St. Bernards. This fella knew just how to deal with the heat. Deerhounds are similarly sized to Greyhounds, but are larger and more heavily boned, with a rough coat. They were bred to hunt deer and are similar to but a bit smaller than Irish Wolfhounds and are a majestic breed.
Wilson: Say didn’t your daughter consider getting one of those guys before settling on Irish Wolfhounds?
The Mum: Yes, I think they did consider them but ended up with the Wolfhound and have raised several Wolfhounds since seeing them at the Estes Park Celtic Festival many years ago.
Wilson: Sounds like quite the day enjoying all things Celtic. Glad it was a fun event, Mum. Also I’m grateful I didn’t have to go. Not sure I’d be all that keen listening to bagpipes and dealing with all the rescue dogs near the tent. But you guys deserve kudos for getting the word out about the sheepdog rescue and for selling a few things to benefit the rescue. You met a lot of people who were interested in the two dogs in foster care so that’s a good thing. All and all, great job, Mum. And what fun animal pics you managed to capture. Well that’s it from us. Stay cool if you can but keep your eyes open for opportunities to check out slices of nature. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. SlĆ”nĀ (goodbye).
Live, love, bark! š¾
Greetings and salutations, everyone. Happy Friday. Wilson here…and as always, I’m joining those lovable pups from theĀ 
Good Monday morning greetings, peeps. Today’s smile pretty sums up what we’ll be dealing with this week. After experiencing 80+ degree temps last week, we are under another freeze watch in effect until tomorrow where the high may reach 49F (9.4C). Never let it be said the weather isn’t interesting in Colorado. The only downside to it are the dreary grey skies that resemble thick soup. In the immortal words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who wrote in a poem 1842, “Into each life some rain must fall.” But in the parched West, we’ll enjoy it while we can.
Wilson has found a new treat that he likes. Although he would rather it would have been an apple slice from the charcuterie board leftovers, he was more than game to try a slice of cucumber. What treats do your dogs like?
Elsa was living proof that dogs who were diagnosed with this condition were still able to live relatively normal and happy lives so it’s only natural that Wilson wanted to participate in memory of his little sister by wearing her purple bandana.
